Chapter 17: Assimilation, 100%
"No!" Zayn roared.
The woman's body dropped lifelessly to the ground.
Ronaldo's face soon transformed into that of MIS Zayn.
"You brought me here...to show me this? How my powers are going to kill my mother?" Zayn questioned darkly.
The glow in his crimson eyes grew brighter and brighter as his thoughts grew even more murderous.
"No. Your lack of power is going to kill your mother. You seem to think that the Murderous Impulse State is a curse, when it is, in fact, a blessing to someone like you." MIS Zayn pointed out.
"Heck! You don't even you what you really are! You're just a pathetic little boy!" He roared.
"Is that what you think? Well, I completely...disagree." MIS Zayn was shocked to find out that without his knowing, his counterpart had gotten behind him and stabbed a hand into his chest.
"How did?—" He asked, mortified.
"I get here? Well, thanks to you, the beast in me has awakened. And all he wants to do...is devour! In an endless wave of chaos!" Zayn's eyes were cold and aloof, but a never before seen darkness radiated from the depths of his black pupils.
Something peculiar began to happen the next second.
MIS Zayn's body began to slowly disintegrate into dark red particles that converged towards Zayn.
"I will devour you. And make you mine." A vague shadowy apparition of a wriggling mass of chaotic matter with some images of skulls screaming in agony stood behind Zayn as his hellish voice reverberated in his counterpart's ears.
Strangely enough, MIS Zayn's face suddenly had a smirk on it.
"Ahh...you've finally come to your senses huh? This feeling, of your enemy dying by your hands...savour every bit of it. One day, you'll come to understand, things aren't what they appear to be." He grunted.
"Cut the crap. What are you? Some sort of inner demon?" Zayn asked coldly.
"I'm something...you can never escape from..." MIS Zayn's body turned into dark red particles that was quickly absorbed into Zayn's body.
Zayn let out a long sigh.
Like pieces of glass, the tragic scene disappeared, and Zayn soon found himself standing in front of the old man.
"What...was that?" He inquired.
"That...was your instinct." The man stated.
"My...instinct? Does that explain the weird attraction I felt towards him?" Zayn held his chest.
"Which do you think came first? The body...or the soul?" Old Man Billy abruptly threw a question.
"Old Man, you're beginning to sound even weirder than usual? But if I had to choose, I'd probably go for the body?" Zayn tilted his head.
"And that's why you lost." Old Man Billy shook his head.
"What do you mean lost? Did you watch the fight?" Zayn scoffed.
"You focused too much on the fight, and not what your heart was trying to tell you." The man said.
"Whoa there! That guy is my heart? You need to get your head checked." Zayn waved his hand dismissively.
"While you may have won the fight, you didn't manage to awaken the true power within you. You only uncovered a part of its potential." The man shook his head in disappointment.
"What?" Zayn blurted out in surprise.
"I don't have much time to speak with you. Using my Dreamscape abilities limited my time in this dimension. Listen. You may have wasted this chance, but you still have another. First, reach the Planetary grade. And then access the power of the Eternal Source and use an Interdimensional Source Crystal to completely awaken your power. Remember, no mistakes this time..."
"Wait! This dimension? Planetary Grade? Eternal Source? Interdimensional Source Crystal? What the hell are you talking about?..." Zayn tried to speak, but the old man had already dissipated, leaving behind an empty black void and a few words.
"Remember. If you want to meet me again, reach the Planetary Grade. Maybe by then, everything will have been revealed to you. You've found something special, one that can change your life in more ways than one. Use it wisely. I'll be waiting. And one more thing...beware of the Throne..."
"Stupid old man. Does he think that this is a drama or something? What's with all the suspense? But still...you want me to play your game? Well then, I'll play this game..." Zayn smirked.
"...To the very end." Zayn's eyes glowed faintly.
Just then, a bright bluish-white screen suddenly appeared in front of him.
[Detecting that Host Assimilation has crossed 50%.]
[Commencing Authentication Procedures...]
"What the?—" Zayn suddenly felt a jolting pain all over his body, and he couldn't resist the urge to scream.
"Aah!!" His eyes turned bloodshot as his agonized voice echoed throughout the cave like structure, sounding in the ears of the three outside.
Lynn and Kai looked at the cocoon in puzzlement and worry.
[Commencing Physical Attributes Authentication Procedure...]
[Physical Attributes Authentication Procedure cleared!]
[Detected that Host has a total of 3 Bloodline templates...]
[Correlating data...]
[Commencing Energy Authentication Procedure...]
[Energy Authentication Procedure cleared!]
[Commencing Spiritual Attributes Authentication Procedure...]
[Spiritual Attributes Authentication Procedure cleared!]
[Correlating Host bio-data...]
[Correlating Host skills...]
[Evaluation of Host Potential...]
[Host Potential is determined to be at White Grade...]
[Compatibility with Ethereal Seed has been determined to be at 78%...]
« Assimilation...100% »
[Host Authority is set to Raider!]
[Host Bonding...complete!]
{Host, it is detected that you have partially stimulated your Life Tinder and have stepped into the limit of what you call the Gamma grade. It is advised that you undergo a small scale evolution. Should I begin?}
***
All I could feel was pain!
Excruciating pain!
But then, I began to hear voices inside my head. I thought I was hearing things, or that I'd finally gone crazy. But it felt so real to me. It said I had just awakened my... Life Tinder, was it? Was that what Electrode was talking about? Is this the special something? A system? I wondered.
Small scale evolution? What did that mean?
This was one of the many questions that ran through my mind, but before I knew it, I found myself saying assertively.
"Yes!"
[It is detected that there are several poisonous substances in your body. Would you like me to purge them, Host?]
"Do it." I said coldly.
[Commencing small scale nano toxin purge...]
I felt something rushing up my throat, and couldn't resist the urge to vomit.
Blergh!
Wiping my mouth amidst the pain, I found that what I had just regurgitated was a purplish-black aqueous substance that gave off a horrid scent.
Immediately after that, my whole body felt so free and unrestrained and I couldn't help but exhale in content.
But another message soon jolted me out of my reverie.
[Commencing small scale evolution process...]
[It is detected that you possess 55% Human DNA and have met the requirements to activate Racial Talent.]
[Genetic Ability Electromagnetic Force Control has been detected to reach Totality Level.]
{Due to you having met certain criteria, you have interacted with the Infinite Source Sea and increasing the possibilities of temporarily enhancing your Racial Talent.}
[Please choose three of the following abilities to serve as Gene Templates.]
- Telekinesis — Absolute
- Annihilation — Absolute
- Infinite Speed
- Radiation Control
- Quantum Foam Control
***
Gene Templates? Did those mean genetic abilities?
Zayn was shocked. He never knew that humans had a racial talent that could evolve the skills of their genetic abilities and turn them into ACTUAL genetic abilities! Was this what Electrode was trying to tell me? Maybe this was how he got his Inner World Creation ability!
But why was he getting to choose three abilities? Wasn't it supposed to be one?
He felt so lost at the moment.
These were all so amazing and overpowered abilities that he didn't even know which ones he would choose! Infinite Speed? Quantum Foam Control? Annihilation?...shit! This was too much to take! Although he could barely deduce the capabilities of these powers, he was 100% sure that any one of them would make him incredibly OP were he to choose them!
Carefully pondering upon the seven options that appeared on the bluish-white screen in front of him, he eventually made his choice.
'I choose Telekinesis, Quantum Foam Control and Annihilation!' He asserted in his mind.
[You have chosen the following abilities...]
[It is detected that unknown dimension has expressed interest in forming a symbiotic link with you. Do you accept?]
"Whoa! A dimension forming a symbiotic link? Is that even possible?" Zayn pondered. He had to think this through. Carefully thinking about the pros and cons of this "proposal," he made his decision.
"I accept." He said silently.
The pain that he felt increased in intensity, and Zayn closed his eyes sharply, only to open them a second later and find himself floating in a vast sea of colours. In this strange space, all he felt was dissonance. He could hear countless voices screaming in his ear, causing him great discomfort.
But there were five, or was it six?
He could hear six distinct voices conversing, and something deep within himself felt that he was a subject of that conversation.
The tone of the voices sounded a bit scrambled, like a TV on static, or a radio tuned into the wrong frequency.
In the real world, a drop of blood trickled down his nose as Zayn's body twitched violently.